House Republicans Pass Bill to Cut Workers’ Rights

The House this evening passed (235-188) legislation (H.R. 3094) that gives employers new tools to combat and delay elections by workers who try to form unions. Dubbed the Election Prevention Act by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the bill is the congressional Republican effort to block some modest rule changes proposed earlier this year by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to reduce unnecessary litigation and modernize the way union elections are conducted.

Miller says the bill’s “singular goal is to delay”

and ultimately prevent union representation elections. Its aim is to deny workers the opportunity for a voice at work.

House Republican leaders claim the legislation is part of their jobs creation agenda, although they’ve never been able to explain how trampling workers’ rights to fair elections creates jobs. It’s actually part of an overall attack on workers’ rights, the NLRB and essential workplace safety and health and environmental rules. Click here for more.

While they have refused to pass jobs legislation this year, congressional Republicans have made nearly 50 separate assaults on the NLRB since January by proposing bills to gut the agency’s oversight and funding, holding hearings and issuing subpoenas, according to American Rights at Work (ARAW). Click here for a detailed look.

Earlier today, at a special AFL-CIO forum that examined the Republican attacks on workers’ rights and the NLRB, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler said:

Make no mistake about it. Their goal is to reduce power of working people across the country and incapacitate the board.

Click here for full coverage of the forum.

At a meeting today, the NLRB voted 2 to 1 to move ahead with a final rule for most provisions of the proposed union elections rules.

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